This invention relates to an arrangement for presetting of a workpiece in a welding apparatus for a motorcar body or the like.
An apparatus for assembling and welding a side panel on each side of a motorcar body in relation to a floor panel and a roof panel thereof has hitherto been proposed by the applicants of this application. In this apparatus a welding jig means provided on a welding apparatus body is provided with a clamp means for clamping plural outer and inner component parts for constituting a side panel so that these component parts may be set in overlapped condition and welded together on the welding jig means to form the side panel. The resultant side panel may be then connected by welding to the floor panel and the roof panel through the welding jig means. (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 268,572 filed May 29, 1981, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,451). This has the inconvenience, however, that it is troublesome to set the component parts for constituting the side panel in overlapped condition on the welding jig means. The loss of time required for such a setting work becomes a hindrance to improvement in working efficiency. In order to complete the assembling, by clamping of the side panel with the floor panel and the roof panel, it is necessary to set the component parts in such an overlapped condition on the welding jig means that an outer part thereof may be disposed on the inner side and each of inner parts thereof may be disposed on the outer side (that is, outside the set inner panel). Accordingly, the respective inner parts, at the time of setting thereof, have to be clamped one by one so as to be fixedly overlapped with the outer parts already set and clamped. Such required setting work results in lowering of the working efficiency.